Rising costs could doom stadium

Rachel Gordon, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, September 9, 1998

1998-09-09 04:00:00 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The new 49ers president says the estimated cost of the team's proposed stadium project has skyrocketed to more than $500 million, and he can't promise the project will ever be built.

Apparent indecision by the 49ers and their partners in the venture has put the project's environmental impact statement on the project on hold even though it is supposed to be due this month.

The latest number-crunching shows a $200 million jump in the cost of the proposed stadium and adjacent mall at Candlestick Point. Together, they could cost $725 million or more, Niners interim President Larry Thrailkill told KPIX-TV Channel 5 in an interview Friday.

In light of the higher stadium cost projections, Thrailkill was asked if the project would go forward.

"I'm very hopeful that it will happen," he said, "but if somebody asked could I promise to make it happen, the answer is no. I can't promise that."

Mayor Brown wasn't happy with the news - particularly because he didn't hear it firsthand from team officials. He said he had tried to reach Thrailkill over the weekend and again Tuesday morning but couldn't get through.

Mayor won't go to voters&lt;

Brown emphatically stated Tuesday that The City would not exceed the $100 million in revenue bonds narrowly approved by voters in June 1997.

He said if the stadium did indeed cost more than first thought, the 49ers would have to raise the additional money, "or they'll go back to the voters." The mayor said he would not put his palm out to the electorate again.

"I have asked the voters for $100 million, and that's frankly all I intend to ask the voters for. Period," Brown said.

When questions have arisen about the project in recent months, the mayor has insisted that it was on track and cited work on the environmental impact report as evidence.

On Wednesday, however, Hillary Gittelman, who heads the Planning Department's environmental review section, said, "There's no publication date at the moment. . . . It's a complex document, and we've put a lot of work into it. But we rely on them (the 49ers and the Mills Corp., which is to develop a mall, Candlestick Mills, in connection with the stadium) to provide us with information about what their proposal is. If they come up with changes in their proposal, we have to know about that."

Mills Corp. spokesman William Strawn said that despite the ambiguous message coming from 49ers headquarters, Mills "remains as enthusiastic as ever to go ahead with the project and is fully committed to it. But it's basically a 49ers project, and we're waiting for the 49ers to tell us when they're ready to go with it."

It was only in January that Denise DeBartolo York, chairwoman of the team's parent company, Edward J. DeBartolo Corp., put a damper on the stadium project when she said the tab was running $175 million more than its original $325 million estimate. The adjacent mall had been estimated at $200 million for a $525 million total project cost.

At the time, York suggested the stadium-mall be sidelined until a more thorough cost analysis was done.

Since then, however, both team and city officials have said everything is a go - that is, until Thrailkill's latest remarks.

Brown wouldn't comment on whether he thought the stadium, a project he backed wholeheartedly and campaigned for tirelessly, was in jeopardy. First, he said, he needs to talk to the 49ers front office and look at the new numbers.

"I don't engage in speculation," Brown said.

Kofi Bonner, the mayor's point man on the 49ers project, said even Thrailkill's most recent remarks didn't deter his optimism. When asked if the stadium would be built, he said, "Of course."

"I've been in this battle a lot of times," he said.

"I've been involved in a lot of big projects, and there are always a lot of ups and downs. I think this is normal, actually."

"I just think it would be appreciated by the people who supported the stadium project, including myself, if the 49ers would give us some clarification on whether they're going to build the project or not," Yaki said.

Thrailkill, the DeBartolo Corp.'s chief operating officer who was tapped as 49ers interim president in July, was in Chicago at an NFL meeting Tuesday. He could not be reached for comment.

Money isn't the only issue plaguing the project. In July, longtime team President Carmen Policy, who had been a key player in the new stadium plans, announced he was leaving the team. And 49ers co-owner Eddie DeBartolo could be indicted by federal authorities in connection with a casino gambling license he had sought in Louisiana. City Hall sources said the stadium plan had been put virtually on hold until DeBartolo's problems were resolved.

Under the voter-approved stadium deal, The City would put up $100 million, money that would be paid back with tax money the mall was expected to generate.

Joel Ventresca, who helped lead the unsuccessful campaign to defeat last year's two stadium-mall ballot measures, said he wasn't so sure San Francisco taxpayers wouldn't be stuck with a bigger bill. He said city officials should pull the plug now.

"If the project is so unstable and problematic, it clearly raises the specter that additional public subsidy could be drained from The City's treasury," said Ventresca, chairman of the Committee to Stop the Giveaway.

Thrailkill said in the KPIX interview that the 49ers didn't want to be in the financial position of building a new stadium if it meant there wouldn't be enough money left over to field a great team.

Now Playing:

The Candlestick project calls for a new 75,000-seat football stadium for the 49ers and the $1.4 million-square-foot mall.

It would be developed by 49ers Stadium Associates, a partnership that includes Virginia-based mega-mall builder Mills Corp. and DeBartolo Entertainment Co. Plans call for completing construction by the 2002 season and playing host to the Super Bowl the following year.&lt;

Latest from the SFGATE homepage:

Click below for the top news from around the Bay Area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page.